Malone's half-sister dies in Louisiana

Mattie Towns, half-sister of Utah Jazz basketball star Karl Malone, was buried Friday after a funeral in her hometown.

Towns, 46, died Tuesday. The cause of death wasn't immediately disclosed.A funeral was held at Tennant's Funeral Home in Monroe, with burial at Mount Sanai Cemetery in Summerfield, La.

Karl Malone, 35, was born in Summerfield and attended Louisiana Tech in nearby Ruston.

"I will miss her, I loved her. It's a loss to our family, but I need to carry on," Malone said in a statement. "I have a lot of people counting on me right now."

Malone will go against the Chicago Bulls' Dennis Rodman in a pay-per-view wrestling match tonight in San Diego. The Mailman was to arrive in San Diego Saturday evening. The match will go on as scheduled.